Mr. Virender Aggarwal, a founder-member of India Club Singapore, became the first Indian national to receive the prestigious International Management Action Award ("IMAA") from Singapore. He shared this rare honour with three other business leaders who were presented the award by Mr. Cedric Foo, Singapore’s Minister of State for Defence and National Development.

Mr. Virender Aggarwal, is the Director & Senior Vice President, Head of the Asia-Pacific operations of Satyam Computer. “Virender is a model of the new manager with the bold, risk-taking bent of an entrepreneur. His success clearly demonstrates his outstanding management capabilities, especially his skills in managing diversity,” the IMAA said in its citation. The Award, jointly administered by the Chartered Management Institute of Singapore ("CMI Singapore") and SPRING, Singapore is given every year to senior executives “who have demonstrated exceptional ability in taking management action to achieve sustainable, tangible results for an organization, society or the nation.” The IMAA has been awarded to 15 men and five women since it was launched in 2000.

The nominees were assessed based on the following criteria: Achievements in Management Action; Personal attributes for sustainable Management Action; Vision and value system for continual Management Action; and other contributions to society and/ or industry.

India is threatening to displace the United States as a destination for foreign direct investment, according to the latest FDI Confidence Index, an annual survey of executives from the world’s largest companies conducted by management consulting firm AT Kearney.

In its list of top 25 FDI destination for 2004, A T Kearney has placed India at number three. While China is at the top, the US is at the second spot, with a FDI Confidence Index that is only slightly better than that of India. In 2003, India was ranked sixth on the list.

“Although it remained the second most attractive FDI location, the gap between the US and India may be closing.

As China and India forge their leading positions in the global economy, the US and the rest of the world will face severe competitive pressures from these two dynamic and rapidly evolving economies,” AT Kearney said in a release.

For the first time, India displaced the US in the index to become the second most attractive FDI location among manufacturing investors. The US slipped to third place.[Read the complete article on Rediff]